Door cleaning apparatus



Dec. 1, 1964 M. M. RosENFELD 3,159,118

nooR CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 24, 1961 ATTORNEY United StatesPatent O 3,159,118 DOOR CLEANNG APPARATUS Morton M. Rosenfeld, MountVernon, NX. (271 Madison Ave., New York, NX.) Filed Nov. 24, 1961, Ser.No. 154,545 2 Claims. (Cl. 1tl91) This invention relates toa doorcleaning apparatus. More particularly, this invention relates to a doorcleaning apparatus for doors on bomb shelters, air-raid shelters, andother types of enclosures or buildings which are intended to preventpersons from dust, radioactive fallout dust, explosive blasts, etc.

The door cleaning apparatus of the present invention may be utilized ona` wide variety of structures. For purposes of illustration, the doorstructure will be a part of a blast shelter. Preferably, the doorstructure will be provided with means for providing communicationbetween the interior of the enclosure and the surrounding atmosphere.Such means may be in the nature of a filter mounted within an opening inthe door.

Heretofore, there has been no means provided to remove dust such asradioactive dust which has settled on the door and the surroundingportions of the walls deiining the enclosure. In accordance with thepresent invention, means are provided to flush the outer surface of thedoor with a liquid. The flushing may be controlled from a positionwithin the enclosure. Means are provided to receive the flushing liquidand any dust associated therewith.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel means forcleaning a door.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a blast shelterwith a door cleaning apparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a doorstructure With means for cleaning the same and receiving the cleaningliquid.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a doorstructure having a filtered aperture therein with means for receivingcontaminatedrlters and a liquid for cleaning a surface of a door.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention there is shown in thedrawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood,however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangementsand instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of a bomb shelter having a door structureand door cleaning Iapparatus in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional View taken along the lines 2 2 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 3 3 in FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals indicate likeelements, there is shown in FIGURE l a bomb shelter designated generallyas 10.

The bomb shelter 1li may be an aboveground structure, an undergroundstructure, or a structure constructed within the corner of a basement ofa building. The bomb shelter lf3 includes a concrete floor 12 and aceiling 14 supported above the floor 12 by means of walls 16. One of theWalls 15 is provided with a doorway 18 extending up from the floor 12.

A door is pivotally mounted in the doorway 1S by means 'of hinges 22 and24. A seal 26 is provided around the periphery of the door 20. The seal26 is shielded from direct radiation by means of a lip around thedoorway 18 and a water barrier 28 extending upwardly from the iloor 12.

A ow passage is disposed in the oor 12 between 3,159,118 Fatented Dec.1, 1964 ICC the inner surface of the water barrier 28 and the door 20.The passage 30 communicates with a chamber 32 therebelow. s

A container 34 is mounted above thedoorway 18. The container 34 isprovided with a fill spout 36. The fill spout 36 is selectively closedby means of a pivotable lid 38. The container 34 is adapted to contain aflushing liquid such as water, mixtures of water and bleachingr orneutralizing agents, etc.

The container 34 is provided with a discharge conduit dependingtherefrom. The conduit 40 is provided with a valve 42. The valve 42selectively controls'ow through the conduit 40. The movable elementwithin the valve 42 is selectively controlled by means of a valveactuator 44. The valve actuator 44 may be in the nature of a flexibleWire, chain, rope, or the like which terminates in a knob or ring Withinthe bomb shelter 10.

A gutter 46 is adjustably secured adjacentthe top of the outermost Wallof the door 20 in a manner so that it slopes from one side and extendsacross the door 20. The bottom Wall of .the gutter 46 is provided with aplurality of holes 48 through which the liquid may flow.

The door 20 is preferably made of a concrete material with elementshaving shielding characteristics disposed Vuniformly therein. Suchelements may include a wide variety ofshielding materials such as lead,carbon, etc. In` this manner, the door 20 will have substantially thesame shielding characteristics as the Walls 16. The door 20 is providedwith an opening 52. A flter.54 is removably securedwithin the opening52. The filter is preferably provided with tabs 56 which facilitatehandling and mounting of the lter 54. The lter 54 is snap-fitted withinthe opening 52. Y

Filters 54 are inserted in snap-fitted engagement within the opening 52from a position inside the bomb shelter lil. The tabs 56 are preferablyreadily removable from the filter 54. By removing the filter tabs 56 andapplying pressure therewith against the filter 54, the filter 54 may bepushed outwardly into a position juxtaposed to the filter guard 50.Thereafter, the filter 54 will be directed in a path so that it fallsdue to gravity, bounces off the splash plate 58, through the passage 30into the chamber 32. In order to prevent the passage of unfiltered airinto the bomb shelter 10, the existing filter S4 may be pushed from itssnap-fitted engagement Within the opening 52 by means of a new filter54. Hence, the opening 52 will be provided with a filter at all times.

The filter guard 50 may be made from any one of a Wide variety ofmaterials capable of enabling the guard 50 to protect the filter. Asshown, the filter guard 50 is made from a fine wire mesh material. Thefilter guard 50 must lack a bottom wall or be provided with a bottomwall having a slot therein so that the filters 54 may pass therethrough.The splash plate 58 assists in guiding the filters 54 and flushingliquids into the passage 30.

When it is desired to ush the outer surface of the door 20, a personfrom within the bomb shelter 10 need only pull on the actuator 44.Tension in the actuator 44 opens the valve 42 thereby permittingflushing liquid to flow from the container 34 into the gutter 46. Thegutter 46 is tilted as shown more clearly in FIGURE l so that the liquidows along the entire length thereof. The liquid flows from the gutter 46through the holes 48 down the surface of the door 20 thereby flushing oany :accumulated dust. The mixture of flushing liquid and dust is guidedby the splash plate 58 into the passage 30. The chamber 32 is ofsuicient capacity so that it may accommodate all of the flushing liquidand dirty filters introduced therein during a thirty (30) day period. Ifdesired, the size of the chamber 32 may be increased or decreased toaccommodate longer or shorter periods of use.

The water barrier 28 prevents flooding-of the bomb shelter by water orother`liquids external of the bomb shelter 10. In addition, the waterbarrier 2b prevents the chamber 32 from being filled with surfaceliquids which would thereby prevent ushing liquid and lters fromentering the chamber 32.' The splash plate 58 has a free edge which isdisposed over the passage 30 so that ilushing liquids do not accumulateon the floor 12 adjacent the seal 26. A

f It will be appreciated that the container 34 need not be mounteddirectly above the doorway 18. The container 34 need only be supportedin a position so that liquid may ow therefrom through the conduit 4)into the gutter 46. Hereinafter, the gutter 46 may be referred to .as adispersing member which distributes the liquid across the major-face ofthe door 20.

The present invention may be embodied in other specic forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and,accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, ratherthan to the foreing specification as indicating the scope of theinvention.

I claim:

1. A bombshelter comprising an enclosure, said enclosure including awall having a doorway therein and a oor below said doorway, a door,means pivotally mounting said door in said doorway for movement betweenan open and a closed disposition, .a dispersion member, a liquid supplytank mounted in a plane above the uppermost surface of said door so thatliquid in said tank may ow from said tank to said dispersion member,means mounting said dispersion member so that liquid is dispersed on onemajor face of said door outside of said enclosure, a waste receptacleincluding a waste receiving chamber located in a plane below the surfaceof said floor, said floor having a ilow passage from the surface of saidfioor adjacent said one major face of said door to said chamber, 1aselectively operable valve for selectively controlling ow of liquid fromsaid supply tank, an actuator for said selectively operable valvemounted within said enclosure, said door having an opening therein, afilter removably disposed within said opening, a lter guard mounted onsaid one major face of said door, said lter guard being juxtaposed tosaid opening so that said guard may direct replaced filters in thedirection toward said flow passage, said flow passage having a crosssectional area greater than said lilter so as to allow said lter to passtherethrough into said Waste receiving chamber.

2. The bombshelter of claim 1 including a water barrier, said waterbarrier extending in an upright direction from the Hoor of saidenclosure, said water barrier being spaced about the doorway of saidenclosure, said water barrier being disposed to prevent surface liquidfrom entering said flow passage and allowing liquid from said supplytank passing down said major face of said door to enter said ow passageand to allow replaced lilters to enter said iiow passage.

References Cited `in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 876,222Newhall Jan. 7, 1908 1,029,541 Haustetter June 11, 1912 2,776,861Swenson Ian. 8, 1957 2,798,422 Bourque July 9, 1957

1. A BOMBSHELTER COMPRISING AN ENCLOSURE, SAID ENCLOSURE INCLUDING AWALL HAVING A DOORWAY THEREIN AND A FLOOR BELOW SAID DOORWAY, A DOOR,MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID DOOR IN SAID DOORWAY FOR MOVEMENT BETWEENAN OPEN AND A CLOSED DISPOSITION, A DISPERSION MEMBER, A LIQUID SUPPLYTANK MOUNTED IN A PLANE ABOVE THE UPPERMOST SURFACE OF SAID DOOR SO THATLIQUID IN SAID TANK MAY FLOW FROM SAID DISPERSION MEMBER, MEANS MOUNTINGSAID DISPERSION MEMBER SO THAT LIQUID IS DISPERSED ON ONE MAJOR FACE OFSAID DOOR OUTSIDE OF SAID ENCLOSURE, A WASTE RECEPTACLE INCLUDING AWASTE RECEIVING CHAMBER LOCATED IN A PLANE BELOW THE SURFACE OF SAIDFLOOR, SAID FLOOR HAVING A FLOW PASSAGE FROM THE SUFACE OF SAID FLOORADJACENT SAID ONE MAJOR FACE OF SAID DOOR TO SAID CHAMBER, A SELECTIVELYOPERABLE VALVE FOR SELECTIVELY CONTROLLING FLOW OF LIQUID FROM SAIDSUPPLY TANK, AN ACTUATOR FOR SAID SELECTIVELY OPERABLE VALVE MOUNTEDWITHIN SAID ENCLOSURE, SAID DOOR HAVING AN OPENING THERIN, A FILTERREMOVABLY DISPOSED WITHIN SAID OPENING, A FILTER GUARD MOUNTED ON SAIDONE MAJOR FACE OF SAID DOOR, SAID FILTER GUARD BEING JUXTAPOSED TO SAIDOPENING SO THAT SAID GUARD MAY DIRECT REPLACED FILTERS IN THE DIRECTIONTOWARD SAID FLOW PASSAGE, SAID FLOW PASSAGE HAVING A CROSS SECTIONALAREA GREATER THAN SAID FILTER SO AS TO ALLOW SAID FILTER TO PASSTHERETHROUGH INTO SAID WASTE RECEIVING CHAMBER.